Perth and Kinross Council is struggling to fill teaching posts in rural areas and in some key subjects.

At a meeting of the full council on Wednesday, March 7, councillors were introduced to the local authority’s new corporate workforce plan, which sets out the aims and ambitions for the entire council workforce from 2018 until 2021.

However, the report highlighted the council is struggling to fill a number of teaching posts in rural areas and in denominational schools.

There is also a challenge trying to recruit teachers for home economics, Gaelic and STEM [science, technology, economics and maths] subjects across Perth and Kinross, and to fill a number of promoted posts within the region’s schools.

Currently, 28 per cent of the council’s overall workforce are teachers. These teachers are spread out across the local authority’s 68 primary schools, six secondary schools and four “all-through” schools.

At the moment, 60 per cent of the teaching workforce are over the age of 40, and the workforce is predominantly female. Other challenges the council will face over the next few years also include struggling to engage supply teachers, and the impact of the controversial school estate review. The school estate review has already seen two primary schools (Balhousie and the mothballed Forteviot) earmarked for closure.

Perth and Kinross Council's education and children's services is based at 2 High Street

Councillor John Rebbeck asked at the meeting how successful plans to recruit more teachers in Perth and Kinross had been.

Sheena Devlin, head of education and children’s services at the council, said moving forward the council plans to put more council employees through the “learn to teach” programme, and continue to create new ways to become a teacher by working alongside both the University of Dundee and Perth College UHI.

She told the meeting: “Learn to teach was introduced in 2015 and the first cohort kicked off in 2016. Twelve employees undertook that programme and they are now undertaking their probationary year. There will be 12 qualified additional teachers in Perth and Kinross Council now in schools by August this year.

“Seven started last year and will be looking to commence their probation year in 2018, and a further four started in January.”

She added: “Those might seem relatively small, but over a period of time we will see a number of people living in the area coming in to teaching.”

It is hoped the challenges set out in the report will be addressed by recruiting more teachers through “learn to teach” and by providing more support for headteachers.